Introduction: Studies from the US and Europe showed a decline in smoking among patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but limited data are available from the Middle East. In this study, we describe the temporal trend in the prevalence, associated risk factors, and outcomes of smoking among patients with AMI in Qatar. Materials and Methods: A total of 27,648 AMI patients were analyzed from the cardiology registry at Heart Hospital, Doha, Qatar. This spans from January 1991 to May 2022. Results: Of the total, 13,562 patients (49.1%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 48%–50%) were smokers, with a clear majority of males (98.5%). Smoking habit was found to decrease in AMI patients with increasing age (age 51–60 years, adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.67–0.76, P = 0.001, and age ≥61 years, adjusted OR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.42–0.48, P = 0.001, in comparison to age ≤50 years). Smoking was associated with a lower risk of inhospital mortality (adjusted OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.54–0.70, P = 0.001), but triglyceride, obesity, and old myocardial infarction risk factors were associated with a higher risk. A decreasing trend in current smoking habits in each quantile of the 1996–2000 year (adjusted OR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.71–0.93, P = 0.001), 2001–2005 year (adjusted OR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.62–0.80, P = 0.001), 2006–2010 year (adjusted OR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.67–0.84, P = 0.001), 2011–2015 year (adjusted OR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.42–0.54, P = 0.001), 2016–2020 year (adjusted OR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.43–0.54, P = 0.001), and ≥2021 year (adjusted OR: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.40–0.53, P = 0.001) was observed in comparison to the quantile 1991–1995 year. Similar results were also observed in the young population (age ≤50 years) including the non-Qataris, who had 25% more smokers in comparison to Qatari nationals. Conclusion: Smoking trended down significantly; however, it remained prevalent in 50% of patients among AMI patients. Smokers were younger, with fewer traditional risk factors, and had lower inhospital mortality.

Background: Transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVr), using MitraClip^®, is a safe and effective procedure for severe mitral valve regurgitation (MR). However, the therapeutic results of MitraClip^® in Qatar remain to be elucidated. A total of 25 patients (mean age 60 ± 14.5 years, 64% males) with symptomatic severe MR and prohibitive surgical risks were enrolled in this study. The procedural success rate was 92% to achieve mild residual MR. There was no periprocedural death. All patients experienced significant improvement in heart failure symptoms and MR grade postprocedure with sustained improvement over 1-year follow-up. Conclusion: The TMVr procedure using the MitraClip^® device was safe and resulted in meaningful and sustained functional status and echocardiographic parameter improvement.

Background: Although respiratory support is necessary to maintain hemodynamic stability in patients undergoing major surgeries, prolonging the time of mechanical ventilation is considered a major complication following these procedures. The identification of potential factors related to this phenomenon should be identified. In the present systematic review, we first assess the pooled prevalence of prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery and also determine the main predictors for PMV by deeply reviewing the literature. Materials and Methods: The manuscript databases including Medline, Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Cochrane were deeply searched by the two blinded investigators for all eligible studies based on the relevant keywords. Based on the titles and abstracts, 88 records were initially included and of those, 15 articles were eligible for the final analysis. Results: The pooled prevalence of PMV in the studies that defined PMV as ventilation >24 h was 6.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.1%–10.2%) and in the studies, PMV as ventilation >48 h was 2.8% (95% CI: 1.7%–4.7%). Demographics (gender and advanced age), obesity, underlying comorbidities (hypertension, chronic kidney disease, cerebrovascular accident, high New York Heart Association class, history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and history of acute coronary syndrome), emergency surgery, intraoperative characteristics (needing intra-aortic balloon pump, increased peak airway pressure, using cardiopulmonary bypass, the type of dose of anesthetics, cross-clamp time, increased units of blood transfusion, occurring cardiac ischemic events within an operation, fluid imbalance, and some anastomoses), and some postoperative outcome such as lowering O₂ saturation, sequential organ failure assessment score, inotrope use, pleural effusion, delirium, and prolonged intensive care unit stay were found to be the main determinants for PMV. Conclusion: Depending on the definition of PMV, the prevalence of PMV varied from 1.7% to 10.2%. Various factors before, during, and after surgery are the predictors of PMV in these patients, which can be used to design new scoring systems to predict it.

Background: Point of care tests provide rapid information about the patient's condition, with a turnaround time of 15 min. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many such point of care tests were developed, to aid in the rapid diagnosis of SARS-Cov-2 infection. Aim: To describe and synthesize the available literature on point of care tests for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. Methodology: This narrative review was done through online literature search,using Google Scholar and PubMed. Result: There were 51 point of care tests for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 which were validated using different samples,such as such as nasopharyngeal swabs(42), oropharyngeal and naso-pharyngealswabs(2), oropharyngeal swab in VTM(1) nasal swabs(5) and throat swab(1). Conclusion: There was global developement of point of care tests on a war footing. The Indian states of Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Uttarakhand, were in the forefront of these developments, as also the USA, Belgium, Taiwan, Korea and South Korea.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain major causes of global mortality in the world. Genetic approaches have succeeded in the discovery of the molecular basis of an increasing number of cardiac diseases. Genome-editing strategies are one of the most effective methods for assisting therapeutic approaches. Potential therapeutic methods of correcting disease-causing mutations or of knocking out specific genes as approaches for the prevention of CVDs have gained substantial attention using genome-editing techniques. Recently, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system has become the most widely used genome-editing technology in molecular biology due to its benefits such as simple design, high efficiency, good repeatability, short cycle, and cost-effectiveness. In the present review, we discuss the possibilities of applying the CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing tool in the CVDs.

We report an abnormal hemodynamic pressure tracing taken during pullback from the left ventricle. This report emphasizes the careful observation of hemodynamic tracing relative to continuous electrocardiographic monitoring for identifying potentially pathological vascular phenomena that may have detrimental outcomes on the clinical management of the underlying condition.

Ticagrelor is available as an oral antiplatelet agent that can bind reversibly to the adenosine diphosphate receptor P2Y12 on platelets without first having to be activated. Main side effects such as dizziness, bleeding gums, nausea in common, difficulty in speaking, fever, and change in mental status are rare. Herein, we report a patient who had seizures after the usage of ticagrelor.

Acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) present most frequently with chest pain, but angina equivalents such as dyspnea, diaphoresis, and fatigue are not uncommon. Atypical presentations are especially seen in women, the elderly, and diabetics. Cardiac evaluation using a transthoracic echocardiogram is almost always done before or immediately after someone undergoes left heart catheterization for ACS. It provides information valuable information regarding wall motion, left ventricular systolic function, diastolic function, right ventricular involvement, pulmonary pressures, incidental valvular disease, pericardial fluid, or any other unsuspected abnormality. We describe a novel case where an atypical presentation of ACS was suspected based on the lack of intravenous contrast administered, to enhance endocardial border resolution. The use of contrast during echocardiography has been used during stress protocols to assess microcirculation during perfusion assessment studies. However, we described a reduced uptake during the acquisition of resting myocardial echocardiogram images and it was very useful to direct therapy.

Inadequate peripheral perfusion due to cardiac diseases can worsen renal function in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Due to the nature of the simultaneous cardiac and renal disease, it is often difficult to determine which is the primary cause, and hence many surgeons hesitate to operate on patients with end-stage kidney disease. However, when the primary cause is cardiac related, renal function can improve after successful cardiac surgery. Here, we describe a 55-year-old female patient with CKD Stage 5 who was on maintenance hemodialysis with severe aortic stenosis (AS) and underwent surgical aortic valve replacement and recovered from dialysis-dependent kidney disease. Drastic improvement in renal function after cardiac surgery can occur even in patients with CKD due to improved renal perfusion, especially in cases of AS. Therefore, diagnosing the primary cause of renal dysfunction is essential.

A 59-year-old male dialysis patient with a history of coronary artery bypass graft surgery underwent percutaneous coronary intervention of a right coronary artery with a severely calcified lesion. While debulking calcification using a Rotablator, the driveshaft was suddenly fractured. We attempted to move a child-in-mother catheter closer and across a second floppy wire and we dilated a 2.0-mm noncompliant balloon to trap the driveshaft, which we then removed, and restarted the intervention.